On the Border of Reality
by Misty Rius
Summary: When NiGHTS defeated Wizeman, she also broke the spell confining her to the Night Dimension, allowing her and her brother to traverse the line between reality and dreams. It now leaves the position of God of Nightmare open, and someone wants it. Badly. Stranded in the Waking world as Visitors, the two must find each other and the Ideya to keep the power of Nightmares under control.


"_Look, Will, Helen—it's the Ideya of Hope."_

They thought that it was the end, that they'd saved Nightopia, but the evil god Wizeman the Wicked wasn't so intent on giving up. He rose up from out of nowhere, towering and intimidating, and kidnapped their companion with ease. Not all had gone according to plan.

"_H-huh!? No!"_

Her Ideya of Courage was gone. With only the tune of dark, maniacal laughter, Helen plunged downward into the darkness below, her soul sure to be destroyed. However, there was a trail of sparks, a bright red flash, and suddenly both Visitors shot up from the streets of the newly lit City of Bellbridge. Wizeman's little maneuver had failed.

"_Once I'm done with you, I'll leave you in no shape to get in my way ever again!"_

He was so confident that she was going to lose. She had no Dualist with any sort of Ideya to help her this time. He was going to trap her just as he'd been doing, and this time they'd be powerless to stop him. The final battle between the Master and her didn't have to happen. Several explosions and a deadly game of catch later, his thoughts proved to be wrong. Plummeting to the ground due to a giant exploding ball wasn't what he had in mind.

"_You'd sacrifice yourself to defeat me?"_

What? What did he just say? Will and Helen floated there, aghast that in order to defeat the God of Nightmare, they'd have to give up their friend. It seemed so simple from the start, but now…

A fierce, difficult battle was fought, and in their victory, for just a brief moment, the Visitors thought that perhaps everything would be okay. However, with tears in their eyes, they watched the Nightmaren disappear in a bright glimmer of light, gracing them with a final bow and smile. This wasn't fair! They weren't expecting this at all! Why…?

"_In a dream I can see, you are not far away..."_

It's a cold night in the city of Bellbridge, England. Snow falls around two laughing, smiling children—one a blond-haired boy and the other a blond, pony-tailed girl. They've lost their friend in the midst of their dreamy adventure together, which was sad of course, but at least they had great friends like each other to rely on in the real world.

Later that night, while many of the residents sleep, a full moon creates a silvery circle of light around the top spire of the Bellbridge clock tower while a jester-like figure that appears human—but not quite—daintily alights atop the point on one foot. Her eyes are closed as if in concentration as her fingers dance along the air. However, despite no instrument apparently being present, there still comes from her a ringing, flute-like sound. Yet, there were two problems with her presence—one: She was in the real world, the Waking world, which was a place that she'd never been to nor was she allowed to be before, and two: She was alive.

"_As long as darkness exists within the hearts of humans, then I, and the nightmares, shall never be destroyed!"_

From the shadows below, a red-and-black clad figure similar to the one playing atop the tower gazes skyward, his presence unexpected under the same conditions as the other humanoid entity. At first, he appears confused, as if he's simply lost and thinks that perhaps the moon will help somehow. Then, the uncertainty fades to a smirk as he closes his eyes and looks down, letting loose a dark chuckle before darting straight up into the air past his counterpart, echos of a cackle trailing him.

_"Hn?"_ The one atop the tower exclaims, opening her eyes just in time to see the other presence streak past her. She also looks up, surprise and then determination dominating her features as she puts away the "air" and quickly follows. _"You!"_

**/*|*\**

In the streets beneath them, a raven-haired boy looking no older than sixteen or seventeen observes the brief exchange between the two Nightmaren, laughing quietly and turning away from them.

_Right on time._

Good thing, too, as for a brief moment beforehand, he found himself worrying: _What if it doesn't work? What if I've grossly overestimated the Ideyas' power?_

But no, of course not. He's an intelligent, insidious young man. Why wouldn't it work?

His laughter continues as he walks away, decreasing ever so slightly so that only those in very close proximity would be able to tell that he was expressing any positive emotion beyond the subtle smile. It was finally time to move onto the second phase of his plan, the easiest to commence, but by far most difficult to achieve. As he mentally goes over the steps, his laughter fades quickly and completely.

As he reflects on the acts of his plan and what he knows about the two siblings above him, he turns his vision skyward, the grin growing wider as the chuckle sounds one last time. "Goodnight NiGHTS, Reala. _Sweet dreams._"

_Sweet dreams indeed._

_All according to plan._

* * *

**Author's Note:**** Yes, I write NiGHTS as a girl. Please don't flame me for it or spam me with the arguments. I understand that she's gender-less. We just usually refer to her as a girl, so that's what I'm doing. Thanks!**_  
_

**Disclaimer I: I do not own NiGHTS. Sorry. If you seek the true owner, look for "Green Hill- The SEGA Dream."  
**

**Disclaimer II: I do, however, own the mysterious raven-haired boy and any other OC's that may appear in this story as well as the plot.  
**


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